


Out of the Darkness

by geekasaur1380



Category: Achilles/Patroclus - Fandom, Patrochilles - Fandom, Patroclus/Achilles - Fandom, The Song of Achilles, tsoa
Genre: Achilles - Freeform, Achilles/Patroclus - Freeform, AchillesXPatroclus - Freeform, After death, Fluff, Greek - Freeform, Happy, I hope, Kisses, M/M, POV Patroclus, Patroclus - Freeform, PatroclusXAchilles - Freeform, They deserve to be together, at last, geekasaur1380, gold - Freeform, golden boys, its light smut, its more fluff than smut, like not smutty smutty?, lots of kissing and hugging, lots of tears and smiles, love-war-and-figs, mount pelion, patrochilles - Freeform, patroclus/achilles - Freeform, philtatos, promises are kept, quartz cave scene, reunited, something you all have probally been hoping for, spoilers if you have not read the end of Tsoa, together, what happens after they reunite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 08:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13876941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekasaur1380/pseuds/geekasaur1380
Summary: Two hands finally meet in the darkness of the underworld. This is a short story of what happens after Patroclus and Achilles are reunited in death.





	Out of the Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I hope you all enjoy this short story. After I finished reading The Song of Achilles a couple of years ago, I wanted to write a little story about what happened after they met in death, but I never got around to doing so until now. Think of this as the happy ending they deserved. Anyways... Have fun reading this! :)

“I miss you.”  


My words are nothing compared to the weight in which they hang. They linger upon the empty air in a solemn silence, as I reach out my yearning hands towards this blank nothingness. From my cheeks tears trickle down and drip into the darkness below me.  


_Who do I miss? I no longer remember. Perhaps it is no one at all?_

“Ah, so this is loneliness.”  


I whisper. Quite is the only thing which answers back to me. It ominously crawls up my spine, before locking it cold arms around my body in an ugly embrace. It feels nothing like the arms of the lover I once knew.  


_Lover? Did I used to call someone that?_

My thoughts are cut short. I can only gasp as my breath is ripped from throat! A sharp pain twinges behind my eyelids and, crumbling, my knees fold beneath me. In a mass of pitiful trembles, I hold my hands to my head, screaming at the pain within me. It hurts so much and my heart burns with a terrible ache. Flickering like the spark of a fire, it longs for something. Anything. All the while, wanting nothing more than to be fanned back to life with compassion, only to be ignored and left to die- extinguished by the salt shed from my lashes.  


This hollow pain within me is unbearable. Overwhelmed with melancholy, I feel as though a piece of me is missing and I claw at my chest, desperately trying to tear away this void which has engulfed my heart. If only _He_ was here. _He_ could save me from this miserable place. _He_ could soothe my soul and let me rest within this house of Hades.  


_He?_

Gold flashes in my vision. My heart beats with a dull thump, even though it should not be able to in a place such as this and I find myself smiling. I have not felt this way in so long. Not since… I don’t know when? Hope after all, is not a thing one should feel in the land of the dead, and I have been frozen here for more time than I can remember.  


Puncturing the darkness once more with little flecks of light, the gold carries a familiar smell upon its embers. This smell strikes my memory, wafting in the air like a spritz of perfume as it tickles my nose. It’s a rich smell, honeyed and crisp, refreshing like a cool breeze blowing across the sea, sandalwood and lemon zest, ground almonds, and fresh, ripened, figs splitting their soft flesh under the heat of the summer sun.  


_He had soft flesh too, did he not?_

It was the color of olives, smooth as oil, and taunt with fine-tuned muscles. The memory of it floats clearly in my mind. I recall the way my lips used to trace His skin and how his wandered across my copper body in tender kisses. His body would shake when I touched him, but not with fear, no instead with something stronger yet as delicate as the wings of a moth. Love. It was such a rare thing to find during the time of my life. So many men fought and died for such a thing. I guess I was one of those foolish men, however I would gladly die agian for this man which hazes my thoughts and brings forth recollections of my past.

It’s strange how things come to me now. These tiny memories piece themselves together and I am left panting between each moment. It’s so easy how I can remember now, the ways in which I was always cautious around this man’s most recent wounds; created from spears which had barely grazed him the following day. I would patch him up, patting him down with ointment, oils, and hot wine, then I would take his hands in my own. The softness of a prince no longer existed in his calloused hands, but I did not care. I loved his warrior hands. I no longer minded the blood which rusted under his fingernails. I had grown used to it, though it was something that disgusted me at first, as it would any man.

Within my hold, He would thank me for bandaging his minor scrapes, however I would brush his words away. I did not need such gratitude. Him loving me was more than enough. I was, and I still am, so glad to be his Philtatos. To show my thanks, my fingertips would brush against the slope of his neck and the gentle curve of his spine. Then, I would unlace his shimmering armor so that I could etch my teeth into his neck and press his lips against mind, in turn helping him unwind from the battle ragging outside our tent and curing myself from the war of anxiety which twisted my nerves every time he left me.

“Please. Please, don’t go.”  


I cry, but the smell does not listen to me, instead it disperses and I am left with an unpleasant smell of rotting corpses and haunting wails which sing from the dead souls lost in the dark around me. Their voices, loud and sorrowful, echo within my ears in shrill noises in which I do not want to hear. I do not wish to be like these lost souls, wandering aimlessly and painlessly, unknowing of their past lives or loved ones; For I am not as lucky as them, I remember something… No, someone. I remember someone. Someone who is dear to me. Though I cannot place His name. Yet, I push myself up and press through the darkness. Determination fuels my body to move forward upon wobbling legs.  


“I will find Him.”  


I tell myself.  


“I will never forget Him.”  


_I made a promise. Didn’t I? I think I did._

As I push through the black veil around me, the voices of the dead grow softer, weakening with each footstep I take. The sweet smell from before fills the stagnant air again and I lean towards its alluring aroma.

_He must be this way._

Stretching my arms out, I search frantically before me. Blinded by the dark, my eyes squint to see some sort of light, anything, his face, feet, or hands, but all I see is darkness. This place is nothing more than a realm of shadows. Suddenly, a gentle wind bounces the brown curls upon my head and I sense something nostalgic. My heart stops

“Pa-tro-clus…”

His voice drifts within the calm draught and I let out a hiccup, holding my arms together. My body tumbles upon the ground in a heap of emotion. I know this voice. This dazzling, wonderful, enchanting voice which growls with thunder and purrs like the rare hush of a joyful lion, It can belong to no one else but Him!

“Pa-tro-clus…”

The wind mummers again, seeping warmth into my soul.

I remember how His voice used to affect me. His commanding tone and words driven by pride were never poison to me, but golden ichor in which I would gladly drink in. Every day, I would guzzle down His words, until I could drink no more and let myself drown in His charm. In the daytime he would fill my body with His kind-spoken admirations of me and then, as evening touched the sky, I would let him intoxicate me with lust. His adoring words would spill from His lips and His body framed by the waxy, yellow, light of the moon, would mold into mine. Soft and gentle, but also as firm and real as the ocean waves battering the silken sand we camped upon.

“Achilles!”

His name jumps from my mouth! How could I forget such a name as this? Such a name as, _His._

“Achilles!"

I yell, but no one responds.

“Achilles, where are you?!”

Fear gnaws at my insides and I clench my fists in worry, nails biting into my palms with small crescents.  


_What if he is not here? What if I imagined his voice?_

“Pa-tro-clus…”

My heart leaps into my throat.

_He is here! He has to be!_

“Achilles!”  


I shout again, feet pounding against the pitch black beneath me. In my ears my heart beats like a drum.  


“Patroclus?”  


His voice is clearer this time, louder. I can hardly keep in my excitement as my glee pours out from my lungs in a shrill scream,  


“Achilles! Achilles, I’m here! I am right here! Where are you? Please, Achilles tell me your here? Where are you?!”  


“Patroclus!”  


Like flint striking against silver steel, sparks of light pierce through the darkness, and reveal a glimmering crack of hope. I run towards the crack, my fear falling behind me.  


“Achilles!”  


I continue to holler for him, running my hands through the light which spills through the crack like a hundred golden urns.  


“I’m here, Achilles!”  


My hands quicken their pace and I cannot stop myself from yelping in both fright and joy, as my fingers rub against something strangely familiar emerging from the crack. I wince at this object, squinting in the golden light which is almost too bright for me, but I dare not look away from these bright rays of gold as they stings my eyes. I do not want to lose Achilles. Finally, the object surfaces from the light and I see that it is a hand; His hand! Without a single hesitation, I tug on his hand as hard as I can, pulling out his arm, then his shoulder, and then Achilles through the thin crack.  


“Achilles!”  


My voice cracks. I am pretty sure his name comes out as more of a jumbled slur than his actual name, but I do not care as he quickly seizes me in a tight embrace. I sink into his chest. Both of us squeeze each other tighter and tighter, but it is not enough.  


“Patroclus! Patroclus, I am so sorry! You must hate me. I didn’t mean for this to happen. You- You we’re- Patroclus… Patroclus, I love you! Please, forgive me! I should have thrown away my pride. I should have worn my armor and fought. Not you. I didn’t want this to happen. You were not supposed to die. It should have been me. Damn it, it should have been me! I cannot expect you to forgive me, but… Patroclus… Pat- I- I- Pa-tro-clus…”  


He sobs my name over and over again in waves of hurt and I rub his back like a mother soothing a child. I know he did not mean for me to die. I know he is sorry. I can hear what is left of his pride break in between his quivering lips and I too break, unable to bear the heaviness of our tragic fate laced within his voice.  


“Achilles, it is going to be alright. I’m right here. You have done nothing wrong. You could never do anything wrong to me. There is nothing to forgive. I could never hate you! I love you. I love you, Achilles! We are finally together again. I’m safe. We are here. I’m here. Achilles... Oh, Achilles…”  


My voice glides across him in words of comfort, but they do not reach his ears. His violent sobs overpower my speech, meanwhile his hands search the expanses of my body. I allow mine to do the same to his. It has been a long time since I have felt him; his arms, his back, his face, everything feels like home. 

_I’m finally home._

A sigh escapes my body, deflating from my chest. This is relief I think. I’m finally feeling peace, however as Achilles quickly presses his lips against mine- in an urgent kiss with a longing neither of us never thought we would ever feel again- I know that what I was feeling just a few seconds ago was just a minor fraction of peace. This. Us. When we are kissing, when we are together and whole, it is a whole different feeling than just peace; It is indescribable. The only word I can think of is Life. Yes, here in this place of death, entwined in each other’s arms, heart against heart, lips upon lips, and souls intertangled, we are alive again!  


With our lives once more rekindled, the darkness surrounding us melts. Just as frost does in spring, it thaws into a realm of warmth. This nightmarish place of icy death becomes a lush garden of greenery. From the ground fig trees spring forth. Pomegranate trees, cyprus, pines, citrus plants, wild herbs, and bushes flecked with emerald leaves all appear, each slightly faded compared to the green in Achilles’s eyes which shine back at me, far brighter than the sun, and glowing with a love that can never be dulled by the rust of decay found within the underworld we were recently in. Achilles’s pink lips spread into a buttery smile, soft and smooth, and I smile into his lips. Our foreheads collide against each other’s in an old greeting and above us the song birds pleasantly tweet in the branches of new foliage. Behind us water spews across the landscape with gushes of crystal clear streams and sparkling springs dappled in white lilies  


Achilles takes my hand in his and I let him guide me. I know exactly where we are going. Where we belong. My feet follow, crunching on the leaves and twigs littering the forest floor, while my face flushes with anticipation. In front of me Achilles holds his stance as he walks, shoulders raised high and proud, but I can see the way his back tremors. It’s as though we are we are reliving the day we confessed to each other on Mount Pelion, however I know he is not shaking from the same shy boyhood he had that day. No, he is scared. Scared and grieving. As am I. My hand sweats in his, but he does not let go. He clenches my clammy fist with even more strength than before.  


“Patroclus... I…”  


Achilles stops walking and I interrupt him before he can finish his sentence,  


“It’s okay, Achilles. I know. Do not worry. I do not think we will disappear. We made a promise. We promised to remember each other, to find each other, and to be together even in death. Did we not?”  


My words still echo with fear and I pray Achilles cannot hear the way I swallow back my fright within my throat.  


“We did.”  


He sighs and then turns his face back to me. A small glint of reinsurance tugs at the corner of his lips with a little chuckle,  


“We did, Patroclus. You’re right. I’m sorry.”  


“No.”  


I say rubbing my thumb up and down the back of his shivering hand.  


“No, you do not need to apologize.”  


My breath hovers across the skin of his wrist as I place a chaste kiss upon the cold flesh, it warms beneath my touch and both of us gasp in surprise. The dead should not feel this, yet here we are. I can hear the way his heart beats within the air, swift like the wings of a hummingbird, and I’m not entirely sure if is his heart I hear or my own. Everything blurs in my mind, but we continue to walk forward, eyes glazed, and faces alight with apple red cheeks.  


As we reach our destination, my bare feet recognize the ground beneath me before my mind can even processes where I am. I knew we would end up here, however the sensation of stone underneath me brings back a comfort I had forgotten, and I collapse upon the floor of this cave. Achilles does the same. Our hands explore our surroundings and we watch each other as we touch each small pebble and dented chunk of rosy quartz and rock- The walls and floors of this cave carved, chipped, and cracked, all worn from our spears during winter practice. With each shift of our hands, our bodies grow closer, and soon we meet each other in the middle of the floor. His fingers mix with mine before I have the chance to grab his hand, and he winks at me, pulling me into him. I chuckle at the look in Achilles’s eyes as hurriedly leads me towards the back of this beautiful cave and a cheesy grin splits across my face.  


Of course, the brown fur we had lain upon during our youth still remains how we left it when we were younger, sprawled like a map upon the cave floor, and I crave to find the mountains Achilles’s body will make upon it. My stomach churns nervously as if I am a boy again and I grab Achilles’s arm. Looking him in the eye, he nods back at me in understanding. Within his gaze, he too holds a hint of tenseness. This isn’t our first time doing this, but it has been ages since our last time; However, we both want this. Our lustful desire for physical closeness outweighs our bashfulness and, suddenly, we are like hungry predators. He sizes me up and I him, then we collide. Our bodies collapse against each other like two great stars, bursting into a super nova of guttural moans and grasping hands. The plush fur of the mat greets Achilles backside and a needy whine pours from his throat and into my mouth, as I push him down and take him within my palms. He is the same as he was back then; A blossoming flower of velvet petals. His body glows in gold, reflecting off of my dark bronze skin as though we are two glossy coins of the same mold.  


“Patroclus… Patroclus, I love you so much! My dear, Philtatos… I love you…”  


His voice is deep and raspy as his lips move against my own just as they had years ago upon the beach- plump as buzzing bumble bees, and coated with the sweetness of an irresistible honey I cannot get enough of. I do my best and I try to tell him the same words- that I also love him- but I choke on what I want to say, for my tongue is numb and mind diluted into mush. It’s been so long since I have seen him like this, stripped of his godly glory, mortal, and covered in a sheen of sweat and flushed flesh. All I can do is hum back at him. He chuckles at this, eyes tracing my now naked form, while he drawls his tongue upon his upper lip. The way he looks at me is as though I am the most delicious dessert he has ever seen and I moan at the sheer pleasure in which his gaze can bring to my body. A shiver runs down my spine and he opens his mouth to speak. It takes all my strength not to kiss him some more, but I must let him speak. We have so much to say and now we finally have all the time in the world to say what we want.  


“I feel like I could eat the world raw. You are my world, Patroclus. Never forget this.”  


His words sink into my soul. All my thoughts vanish and my hungry body dives into his. Achilles’s pupils widen even larger than before, as my tongue caresses the supple muscles across his chest, then his prominent cheekbones, and finally his greedy mouth as I crush his lips into mine.  


“Consume me. If I am your world then eat me raw, until there is nothing left. Until I have been devoured completely. I want to always be with you. I love you, Achilles. Please, never leave me. We will be This, forever, won’t we? Say we will. Say it, Achilles.”  


I command him and he listens to my demands.  


“Yes, Patroclus. It will be _This,_ ”

His teeth sink into my shoulder and I welcome the white, scolding, pain. In turn I mark him as well.  


“and _This,_ "

His gentle hands sweep away tears I did not know I was crying.

“and _This,_ "

He kisses my nose and my eyes flutter.  


“Always and forever. I swear it.”  


I whimper into our promise. It swells within both of us, and finally, comfort settles over our bones. He melts into me and I into him. Panting, hot, breathes flood the quiet cave as we savor each lost moment we were apart. Outside, the daylight now glows with the amber embers of sunset, however we do not stop our movements. Our love will never run thin here.  


It’s not until stars prick the night sky, that Achilles and I fall backwards upon the fluffy fur we sit upon. He draws the covers below us up to my chest and I’m thankful for both their warmth and his own. The night has brought cold into the cave and with it goosebumps already prickle our bare skin; However, the air around us is steaming with humidity from our sweat slickened bodies, both wet with far more than just our sweat and tears, yet we do not care. We hold our sticky selves together. After all, there will be time for cleaning later.  


“Patroclus?”  


Achilles chest rumbles and I turn my cheek upon it mumbling a faint,  


“Hmmm?”  


My voice is far too broken from pleasure to speak properly.  


“I can see the constellations. The paintings of the stars, they are still here.”  


He says bluntly and I giggle at this. His voice sounds just as wrecked as mine probably would if I was to talk more than a few words.  


“Oh?”  


I try to sound intrigued, but I’m distracted by a lock of his hair which has fallen upon my shoulder. It tickles my skin and I play with the golden strand, twirling it between my fingers. I never thought that I would be able touch this hair again.  


“There,”  


Achilles’s snaps me from thoughts. He points upwards and I groan at the sudden shift of his arm.  


“It’s the same constellation. The one I showed you the first time we slept together in the cave. Do you remember it?”  


He asks.  


_Of course, I do. Its Orion. I could never forget it. You used to point at it all the time and then we would study The Pleiades. I remember all the stars here. Polaris is my favorite. It set upon your shoulder the first time we made love here. When we went to war, I used to look upon it at camp and I would think of you. I would remember all the good times we had here and I would wish for all the ships to sink, or for all the men to get gravely sick, or for Helen to return home, so that we could come back here. I wanted nothing more than for the war to end and for us to live together here._

I want to tell him this, but fatigue weighs down my heavy eyelids. All I can do is reply with a weak,

“Yes.”

Achilles’s grin could kill all the gods and I would not regret it in the slightest. His eyes glint towards mine and he tucks me further into his chest. His breath rises and falls in a pleasant rhythm and I grow even more drowsy listening to the steady thrum of his heartbeat. I can tell that he is tired too and he struggles to keep his smile stretched. He yawns like a lazy cat, then lifts my chin up so that he can tilt my face towards his and places another kiss upon my nose like he did earlier.  


“Let’s go swimming tomorrow.”

His hand tenderly glides up and down my side.

“There is so much I want tell you about, but it no longer matters here. I can tell you later. Let’s go swimming. I bet the branch we used to play on is still hanging over the water. I’ll race you there in the morning, what do you say?”

Playfully he crawls his fingers across my ribs.

“Stop!”

I squirm and he moves his fingers faster. Laughter bubbles from my throat as he admires my tired smirk and murmurs,

“Never.”

brushing his lips against my forehead. As he becomes lost in his action, I quickly grab his hand in mine, but Achilles is too strong. My hand stands no chance of keeping a grip on his as he slides it out of my tight hold and tickles me again. I wiggle in his grasp. I can hardly breath.

“Alright!”

I yell out of energy and gasping for breath.

“I give up! We can swim tomorrow!”

Satisfied with my answer, Achilles’s hand stops. Crickets chirp within the silence which follows our playful teasing, however I can once again can hear Achilles’s heartbeat and 

I sigh at the sound. I will never tire of this. Tomorrow we will swim, the next day perhaps we will hunt or build a fire, but for now we will stay like this. We can lay like this forever, whenever, however long we want too and no one can stop us. Finally, we can be together. There will be plenty more days to come, an endless eternity of days, just for us.

“I cannot wait for tomorrow.”

I say and Achilles presses his head against mine, nuzzling our noses together, and snuggling into me. Stroking the top of my head with his fingers, I relax into him. He sighs peacefully,

“We will never have to wait again, Patroclus.”

The truth of his words fill us both with sheer bliss. It slides from our eyes in waterfalls of previously trapped emotions in which we do not wipe away, letting our tears merge and create a massive puddle beneath our heads.

Achilles’s eyelids shut and mine follow. Darkness envelopes our vision, but this is only temporary. Tomorrow we will open our eyes to the light of day. We will swim in our favorite spring upon Mount Pelion. We will hike, and climb, and hunt, and cook, and laugh, and love each other unendingly in all the days to come. Our nights will be full of pleasure and are dreams will be filled with only thoughts if each other. Nothing can separate us now, no mortal, or war, or even God. We are inseparable and reunited. Our death was not an end, but a beginning, and I think both of us are ready for an eternity of _This_. Together at last, our bodies rest against each other and my head lulls upon Achilles’s chest. Moonlight washes over the cave and all is quite.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi again, I just wanted to let you know that I have a fanfiction on here I am writing if you enjoyed this work; However, I have not made a new chapter for it in a while and I apologize for that. I will try to update it someday, but that could be a while, as I am currently working on other things and I am very busy with my job. If you would like to follow me on tumblr my name is love-war-and-figs. Thank you for reading this and I hope you liked it! :D


End file.
